


Galeforce Winds in the Ruined Kingdom of Glocken

by redbluezero



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga), ソードアート・オンライン - 川原礫 | Sword Art Online - Kawahara Reki
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22111528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redbluezero/pseuds/redbluezero
Summary: When thirteen year old bookworm Shino Asada finds a mysterious book in her local library, she ends up getting transported to the fantastical ship city of Glocken. There she meets the prince, Spiegel Zaskar, who begins to help her find her way back home for reasons unknown. But as they search, Shino realizes that she may play a bigger role in this world than she originally thought.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This started totally on a whim. Also some wack ass beat me to the Kyoushino tag and I’m >:( so I had to chug this out as fast as possible. Not tagging it yet though ‘cause it’s just chapter one. Anyway, enjoy my early 2000s kid’s show isekai.

The old library in the small town of Sancho-me always had an antique vibe to it. The interior was mostly wooden, with creaky flooring and spiral staircases. It was expected of countryside public property, and the musty smell of dried up books had a calming effect, so nobody complained. What they did complain about, though, was the little girl who nestled herself in the corner of the foreign novels daily.

“Hey, isn’t that the Asada girl? The murderer?”

“Yeah, she’s here everyday. Trying to borrow a classic is such a pain.”

“Why, are you scared that she’ll bite you if you get too close? Haha!”

“Sh-shut up! It’s a valid fear! I hear she shot him  _ twenty _ times!”

Shino heard similar conversations daily. At school, on the walk home, during grocery shopping; no place in the town was safe for her. The only reason she didn’t hole up in her home was because the library was usually safe and she loved to read. Annoying middle school boys like the ones who had just made fun of her were the exception, not the rule. Besides, it was easy to tune out whispers when she was nose deep in a book. Her mind carried her far away from her town and into all sorts of different worlds. Literature truly was amazing.

With a smile on her face, she resolved that she’d brush off the rude comments and continued reading her book. She was almost done with the recently translated  _ A Most Wanted Man _ , only a page or so left. Despite not knowing much of what the book was commenting on, Shino enjoyed the thrilling scenes and the writing style. There wasn’t a book by the author that she read and didn’t enjoy so far. With a satisfied sigh, she carefully shut the book and returned it to the shelf she’d been leaning on. As she got up, she felt a bit strange, as she’d been sitting for so long. Shino stretched out her arms and prepared to search for a new book.

Her fingers brushed against the spines of the row of books, some only hanging by a loose thread. She was always more careful with those, and skipped over them. The dust that floated upward gave her the urge to sneeze, but she held it back. She perused all the books by le Carré that the library had to offer, quickly reading the titles, and…

_ What? I’ve read all of them already?  _ Shino frowned. She recognized every title in the shelf. A part of her was shocked; there were at least eight books, all hefty in size, so it was a lot to read. Then again, her middle school years were dreary and lonely. She had no social life due to the incident, giving her ample time for reading. It simply made sense; Shino’s frown grew larger. What started as a nice trip to the library began to morph into a day full of nuisance. She  _ knew _ she shouldn’t get overly irritated by the smallest things, all the stuffy doctors said so, but the lack of books plus the kids from school all jumbled together in her head into one huge mess that would most likely tip her over the edge. Her face scrunched up; today just wasn’t her day.

Or so she thought. In the corner of her eye, Shino noticed a very tattered novel. It was stuffed between a few others, jammed in the tiniest space of the shelf across from her. Something about the brittle pieces of paper that could barely be called a book drew her in. She walked across the aisle cautiously and extended a hand. She pulled it out and carefully scrutinized the cover. It was a basic brown, but it had golden letters inscribed on the front.

“ _ Galeforce Winds in the Ruined Kingdom of… Glocken _ ,” Shino read aloud, tripping over the foreign word at the end. It was another one of those weird proper nouns, like the lands in fairytales. Upon realizing it was a fantasy book, she smiled widely. It was her favorite genre, along with espionage (like the book she had finished earlier). She’d been meaning to read a good old magical story again, too. However, one thing still irked her.

Shino knew the town library like the back of her hand. She  _ especially  _ knew the particular section. If she turned around, she could probably name half the books on the shelf without looking. She’d scrolled through the library’s digital catalog over and over as well. But not once had she ever seen, nor heard of, this book. It certainly wasn’t a new arrival, because it was falling apart and the pages were yellowed. She looked for a blurb to get an idea of the plot, but there was none.

Stumped, Shino had no choice but to open the book. Immediately, she was hit with the familiar scent of decaying pages. The words inside were almost illegible, though. Despite her above average eyesight, she had to squint to read it.

_ Long ago, Earth was a beautiful planet full of life. The skies and waters were clear and blue, and plants thrived. There was lush green everywhere the eye could see. But then the great wars occurred. _

__ Shino sighed; just from the last sentence, she figured it was a sci-fi book. It led up to an apocalypse, after all. She preferred more medieval settings when it came to fantasy, but she kept on reading.

__ _ The planet was destroyed by all sorts of man made weaponry. It became an uninhabitable wasteland. The people of Earth had no choice but to flee. With the same machines that destroyed their homes, they built giant ships that could pierce the heavens. And to the heavens they went. _

__ _ Civilization and society was confined to a handful of ships. Because of this, there were great disputes over power. More fighting broke out, this time on the ships, and humanity regressed. To quell the warring states, the government returned to feudalism. _

__ So it  _ was  _ medieval; Shino clicked her tongue, wondering why the story couldn’t make up its mind.

__ _ The new kings and queens of the ships, not wishing to make the same mistakes as their ancestors, formed a council. They named it the _ Council of Terra  _ and enacted many treaties. Soon, they established peace, and the only thing left to do was plan on how to reinhabit Earth. _

__ _ In year 1970 of the New Human Era (nearly two thousand years after the escape from Earth), all of the current leaders of the  _ Council of Terra  _ decided they would land their ships on the planet of their ancestors. It was a gamble, but they figured they would check on the state of Earth. It was worse than they thought. _

__ _ There was barely any air left to breathe, and any resources they could have used had been wiped out. The only living things that remained were mutated livestock, monsters that roamed the lands. The ship leaders were all mortified; nevertheless, they did not lose hope. They had the legends, after all. _

__ _ A tale passed down by the inhabitants of Earth told of a mysterious hero. This hero, originally a nobody who appeared in the main city one day, had the power to bring Earth to its original state. The hero would wield a rifle whose bullets had the power not to end lives, but to save them. With a cool yet fierce demeanor, the hero would restore peace. _

_ Of course, the hero was most likely a made up story meant to reassure children. But the  _ Council of Terra  _ believed that the hero would one day appear. Which brings our story to the present day, year 2022 of the New Human Era; or rather, the year that the hero graced humanity and landed on the ship city of Glocken. _

Shino yawned. It was an interesting premise, but no way to start a story. It felt like a lore entry on a Wiki page. She rubbed her eyes, and flipped to the next page. She’d read that far, so it seemed pointless to stop. But when the paper turned, she saw… nothing. The writing stopped right there. She furrowed her eyebrows; perhaps the book was actually somebody’s journal. It would explain why she’d never seen it before, or why it had no blurb.  _ Great, I just spent a hot minute reading a stranger’s mediocre novella _ , Shino thought to herself. She glared at the tattered journal, then sighed. She might as well leave notes. Shino set the book on the floor, leaving it open to the last page with writing. She crawled over to her school bag and took out a pencil. She inspected the lead, making sure she had enough, then turned around. But as she did, she was struck with a bright light.

To her surprise, the inside of the book was glowing. The pages began to flip and flurry about, as if a gust from within the spine was pushing them out. Shino covered her eyes with her left arm, as the light that the book emitted was almost blinding. It was so bothersome that she hastily ran over to the journal to close it. But as she did, she tripped on the shoelaces of her sneakers, and tripped…

Straight  _ into  _ the book.

“What the-!” Shino yelped as her whole body was engulfed by the light. It wasn’t a falling sensation, but rather a floating one. She flung her limbs around, desperately trying to grab ahold of something, but there was only light. She tried going backward, the way she came, but she realized she no longer had a sense of direction. The only thing she could do was squeeze her eyes tight and hope it was all just a bad dream. She felt her thoughts drift away, and soon everything went dark.

Shino’s eyes flung open, wide and blinking. She could feel uneven ground beneath her. Her chest heaved up and down, panting as if she’d just travelled very far. She looked upwards; she could tell up from down again, thankfully.The sky above her was a murky brown, which she thought was strange, but at least it wasn’t glaring brightness. Even though her limbs ached, she managed to lift herself from off of the floor. As she did, she noticed that the pavement was tar based. It looked like a highway road, and for a minute she got scared and looked around for cars.

All she saw were high tech buildings with an old saloon aesthetic and people dressed in military clothes.  _ Wait, what?  _ Shino frantically turned her head side to side, taking in her surroundings. It seemed to be a city, albeit a very weird one; definitely not Tokyo. It wasn’t the countryside town she lived in, either. So where exactly was she? Shino felt panic rising in her chest. She ran around frantically, looking for a government building to call for help. It was almost dinner time. She had to go home.

Passerby looked at Shino with scrunched faces, probably wondering why such a young girl was out by herself. She tore across the streets as if her life depended on it. Glass building after glass building passed her by; it seemed to be the common form of architecture. After aimlessly running for a while, though, Shino felt her knees get weak. She decided to rest for a moment before continuing her search. She was investigating the city more when she caught her reflection in a building.

She was not Shino Asada. No, the girl who stared back at her had a similar stature, but they were not the same. Her reflection had blue hair and blue eyes. The ribbons she tied her pigtails with were not white, but gray and square shaped. Her blouse had become a loose jacket, and her skirt and tights had become cargo pants. Even her sneakers were now boots. This strange person in a ridiculous get up… had become her reflection. She nervously looked down at her feet and saw the same thing. It seemed that  _ Shino _ was the one who transformed into that girl.

Shino, or maybe not Shino, felt panicked all over again. She couldn’t count how many times she’d felt anxious that day. The new world was weird, but the new  _ appearance  _ was even weirder. It felt alienating. And how could it be that one moment she was in the library, and the next she was in a weird metropolis? It was the work of dreams; yes, she must’ve just fallen asleep while reading. Shino sighed, calming down a bit. She just needed to wake up. Almost angrily, she slapped her face two times. But a few moments passed, and she was still the same.

“Why?!” Shino screamed, annoyed. The voice that came out wasn’t even hers; it was much more high pitched and clear. It drove her insane. She stomped her foot on the ground; doing so with boots felt nice, she had to admit. But it still didn’t solve her predicament. She was on the verge of tears, and felt a lump in her throat.  _ It’s just a dream, it’s just a dream _ , she repeated it in her head like a mantra as she smacked herself so hard that her cheeks became sore.

“Why what?” a soft voice asked. Shino spun around to face the person. She imagined that she looked awful, and probably had a runny nose, but she had to stay alert. In front of her was a boy around her age. He was a bit taller than her and had long, tied back silver hair. He was dressed head to toe in camo, and his eyes were a bit tired-looking. There was a little star shaped pin on his chest, which sparkled despite there being no sunlight. He tilted his head to the side curiously.

“I- huh? Who are you?” Shino asked, stumbling on her words. Out came the voice that wasn’t hers again; it was  _ seriously  _ weird. The boy in front of her seemed taken aback by her question. His eyes widened and he took a step back.

“You don’t know me? I’m… Prince Spiegel, Spiegel Zaskar. You know, of the royal family?” he sputtered, shocked that she didn’t recognize him. Shino furrowed her eyebrows.  _ That was a pretty pretentious response _ , she griped. His name sounded very weird as well, definitely not Japanese. She figured she’d ask where he was from because of it; it’d also help her learn where the city- dream city- was.

“Where am I?” Shino asked dubiously. Spiegel looked even more dumbfounded, but his expression warped to one of sympathy. Perhaps he realized that Shino wasn’t from his world. So he replied, with a calmer approach than before,

“This is the ship city of Glocken.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished the second chapter sorry for taking so long,,, I may love them but damn is it exhausting to establish character traits for a story. It’s so much easier to just yell about them on Instagram :sob: but the action will start! Soon!

Shino couldn’t believe it.  _ That’s the place from the book!  _ She looked around again, observing the city with a new perspective. Grimy, futuristic, and cold; it really did look similar to what she’d imagined while reading. She gripped onto the hem of her beige jacket, so tightly that her knuckles grew white. Just what was going on?

“You look lost, so why don’t we grab a bite to eat and then talk more? My father says I need to practice ‘princely etiquette’ anyway,” Spiegel suggested and extended a hand out to her. Looking closer at his face, she noticed he had an air of youth and kindness to him.  _ If I were  _ normal _ , I guess I’d think he’s kinda cute. Either way, I should probably accept his offer so I can find out how to get out of here,  _ Shino reasoned in her head. She tapped the side of her cheek, then took a deep breath and nodded.

“Okay, shorty prince,” Shino huffed with a smirk on her face. Quips always made her feel better in tricky situations. Spiegel’s jaw dropped in a cartoonish manner, which made her laugh out loud.

“You’re shorter than me! W-well, whatever, there’s a hot dog stand around here. My treat,” he sputtered, then crossed his arms. He began to stomp his way over to the food cart, bringing his legs up and down in an exaggerated manner. He glanced over his shoulder at Shino, then jerked his chin upward as if to beckon her. His ponytail flipped as he did, and he continued walking. Understanding the cue, she quickly followed his lead.

They soon arrived in front of a plain looking bench, meager steel beams holding it up. There were no arm rests, only the thin sheet of metal. Shino took a seat and kicked her legs around while waiting for Spiegel to order the food. She watched as he held an easy conversation with the man at the stand, both of them smiling. Perhaps the prince was a frequent customer, but that didn’t make sense to her. Usually, in fairytales, royals were boarded up in their castles and didn’t care for the commoners. Spiegel was an anomaly, which frustrated her. Already, the first person she’d met in the new world was unpredictable.

“Your face is all scrunched up. Did something happen?” Spiegel asked, concerned. In his hands were two hot dogs. He extended his right arm to hand her one. Reluctantly, Shino took it, and then the prince sat down next to her.  _ Jeez, he’s a bit close. How annoying,  _ she thought to herself, growing a bit uncomfortable. She leaned away from him and then told him it was nothing. She bit into her food; it wasn’t the best, but it was edible.

“Well, first things first. You never told me your name,” Spiegel asked courteously.  _ At least he speaks like a prince,  _ Shino thought. But when she opened her mouth to reply, the voice in the back of her head shook her to reality. If the world outside of her home was something to be barricaded out, then the world outside of her world was doubly important to keep away. She couldn’t just give out her real name, she had to come up with something different- and fast. She tapped her foot, trying to think. A murky feeling began to fill her chest.

“My name’s Shino...n,” Shino croaked, getting the name out before Spiegel grew suspicious.  _ Are you kidding me? That was the best I could come up with? Slapping an extra syllable to the end of my given name? _ She berated herself, though it was more of a, “I’ll joke in trying times” action. However, the prince seemed to feel differently about the fake name. He smiled fascinatedly.

“Sinon, is it?” Spiegel repeated, putting emphasis on the last syllable, “That’s a really neat name! I haven’t heard anything like it. Where are you from?” Shino blinked a few times. He didn’t ask for a family name, which implied that those were not common. His excitement also threw her off; he started to look at her as if she were glowing.  _ His eyes… _ Shino turned her head away nervously.

“I’m, uh… from the countryside. Not from this city, at least,” she replied, stumbling to come up with a vague answer. Nobody would believe her if she said she came from a totally different world, and she still had no proof that it  _ wasn’t  _ a dream. Shino frequently had long dreams where she ran around aimlessly, so this was probably no different. When she woke up in bed at home, she’d forget everything.

“Oh, so you’re just visiting? Well, that explains how you got lost. Did you come with anyone? I can help you find them,” Spiegel asked, making an assumption from her words. He tilted his head to the side again.  _ He’s pretty expressive,  _ Shino thought to herself before responding,

“No, I came here alone.” Spiegel’s head moved backward in shock.

“Really? You look to be my age, so I’m quite surprised! Glocken’s a maze, to be honest,” he exclaimed, stupefied. He took a bite into his food, perhaps to calm himself down.

“Huh? But  _ you’re  _ milling about in this city! You’re a hypocrite!” Shino huffed, not understanding. She raised an eyebrow and angrily took another bite of her food as Spiegel finished his.

“True, but I live here. Even though I’m not supposed to, I wander outside a lot. It’s more refreshing than my room in the mansion,” he explained after gulping down the last of his bread. He looked out at the horizon with a self-deprecating smile. Shino cringed at herself; so he  _ was  _ a cooped up royal, she just didn’t realize, and in turn hit a sore spot. She stared at the hot dog in her hands and began to grip it tightly, pressing the gritty bread inward. Suddenly, she wasn’t hungry anymore.

“Is… something wrong? I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but that’s probably the fourth time you’ve made that dopey looking sad face so far,” Spiegel noticed and began to frown. He furrowed his eyebrows and craned his neck. He ended up staring straight into her eyes. “Could it be… you don’t like the food?”

“Uhhh, yeahh. Sorry for not saying anything earlier. I don’t really eat this stuff often,” Shino replied, going along with Spiegel’s very off the mark guess. Now he was  _ really  _ close to her, so she leaned backward for the umpteenth time. He scratched the back of his neck.

“Oh, it’s fine, haha. My father can just give me more money… anyway, what do you usually eat then? S-sorry if that sounds weird, I’m just interested in other cultures…” he rambled on, his fingers really digging at his nape. He looked more animated than before, though, as if he was trying to hold back excitement.  _ I wonder if he’s charismatic or just a desperate loner _ , Shino thought, noticing his expression. He reminded her of herself. Thrown off, she ended up answering honestly.

“You know, normal food. Stir fry of the vegetables from the local markets, that kind of stuff,” she answered. She crossed her arms, growing bored. She preferred to listen to others than talk about herself. She just wanted for Spiegel to go on whatever spiel he was bottling up, and glanced over at him. His jaw had dropped so low that, for a second, Shino feared he’d broken it.

“V-vegetables?! You… you’ve seen them?!” he shouted, his eyes wide and face beaming. His legs flung around under the bench in excitement. The metal they sat on shook along with him, disorienting Shino. Soon, her eyes widened too, wondering why  _ vegetables  _ made him lose it. Vegetables were  _ normal _ , something she took for granted… oh, right. Glocken was post-apocalyptic. Wait, shit, that meant she slipped up.

“Whaaaat? No, no, I haven’t, I was just jo-” Shino tried to cover up her mistake when Spiegel’s grin grew sly.

“I knew it. You aren’t from this world after all,” he cut her off, with an air of craftiness surrounding him. There was more to him than met the eye, that was for sure. But Shino didn’t notice; she just blinked in disbelief.

“How did you… th-that’s crazy, no sane person would’ve been able to guess that,” she stumbled, eyes wide. She thought  _ she _ had good perception, but the prince saw straight through her.

“Do you like fairy tales?” Spiegel replied, more relaxed, and Shino eagerly nodded. The prince continued, “There’s a legend that every kid in the five ship cities knows. It’s about an underdog hero who isn’t from any of the five main cities. He showed up one day and turned the world upside down. Metaphorically, of course. He brought back all the greenery and resources of the world, as if humans had never trodden it at all.” There was a smile of admiration plastered on his face, as if he was a little kid watching the protagonist of a TV show win a battle. Then he turned to Shino yet again, and squinted his eyes. He looked at her as if he was staring straight into the sun.

“But I know more,” Spiegel whispered, “I know more about the hero than anyone else. I know that the hero is a girl, and what she looks like. I know she has icy blue hair and catty eyes. And I know that she came to this world from another by falling through a book.” Shino tensed up. She couldn’t refute the prince, because everything he said was true. But she knew she couldn’t agree to being a hero. She was only a weak, thirteen year old girl. And most of all, she…

“W-well, I  _ did  _ come to this world via my local library, that’s true. But the appearance thing has to be a coincidence. I’m no hero; if anything, I’m a villain,” Shino replied, balling up her fists. Spiegel raised an eyebrow, but his gaze relaxed.  _ Thank goodness,  _ Shino thought. But the murky feeling didn’t go away. It was the price she had to pay for bringing back those crimson memories.

“Oh… sorry. Haha, maybe you’re right. I-I’m pretty sure it’s just a story made for kids, anyway. We’re both teenagers! We have no time for that! Haha, I sound like my dad…” Spiegel quickly sputtered, his face heating up. He waved his hand around, signaling for Shino to ignore him. Perhaps she had mumbled, because he didn’t pry about the villain comment, or maybe it was something else. Shino shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

“How  _ do  _ you know these things anyway?” she asked, getting back on track. Spiegel put his fingers under his chin and thought for a moment.

“I read it in a book when I was younger. Though, I haven’t been able to find the book ever since,” he replied, bringing his hand down and idly tapping his legs. He still looked away as if he was planning something, though. However, Shino only focused on his words- word, rather- and tried to piece information together.  _ A book about a hero, huh? That’s something in common. Wait… if I came in through it, I can go  _ back  _ through it! _

“That book! I need to find it to get back home!” Shino exclaimed, jolting up and off the bench. She scanned the city, looking for a library. Slowly, Spiegel stood as well, and stretched his arms out.

“Oh, the library is in my home, in the mansion next to the Governor General's office,” he told her, doing a calf raise. Shino furrowed her eyebrows, wondering if he was trying to flex or just had joint problems. She decided to peer over to where he pointed instead. The futuristic castle was in the direction of a large, split mountain. In the center was a round moon, and directly below that was the mansion. It was almost a skyscraper, unlike all the buildings in her town. Upon realizing the library within would be bigger than the one she frequented, her face began to gleam.

“I can see you’re excited! I guess you’re an avid reader, huh? It’s a long walk, I have to warn you!” Spiegel noticed, and chuckled a bit. So  _ that’s  _ why he was stretching; the oncoming journey. Shino guessed that the Governor General's office was very far away. She complained,

“This is a sci-fi world! Isn’t there a flying car or teleporter we can take?” She prayed for her poor legs.

“W-well, yeah, but… it’s more fun to walk,” Spiegel admitted sheepishly. He hid his face behind his hands, and Shino lightly kicked him in the calf.

“Why didn’t you say so? I’m kind of in a hurry, you know. I have homework to do,” she said, kicking him some more. The prince cowered in pain;  _ it sure is funny to be pushing around royalty,  _ she thought smugly. 

“H-homework?” Spiegel asked, finding breath between kicks. He braced himself for another when Shino stopped to think.

“Yeah, for school. What else?” she answered. Once again, Spiegel’s eyes went wide with wonder.

“Commoners go to school in your world? And you have to… bring work back with you?” he asked, trying to piece it together in his head. Shino nodded, hoping it would get him back on track. Spiegel smiled contently, then realized what he had to do. With a quivering hand, he snapped his fingers. 

Soon enough, a mechanical horse bolted over to the two kids. Shino jolted at the sound of hooves, and scrutinized the machine once it arrived by her side. It was all white, almost sparkling. All of its joints were mechanical, with golden plates holding them together. The steed bent its head down, its parts whirring as it did, as if to greet the prince.

“Um, what is this thing?” Shino asked, as it was her turn to be awestruck. The horse’s mane and tail were made of fuzzy, synthetic material, but the rest was all stainless steel. It had no rust or dents, not even a scratch. Did the prince really enjoy walking that much? What a strange character he was.

“It’s my… what was the word? Heaven..? Wait, I got it, horse. It’s my steel horse. I usually just call him Sterben, though. Come on, get on!” Spiegel stumbled on the creature’s name more than he stumbled mounting it. His movement was janky, but he’d definitely ridden on it before. Once he settled himself atop the saddle, he extended his left hand downward to Shino. She stared at his palm… could she really take it?

“I may look slender, but I assure you, I’m a hunter at heart. I’ll pull you up, it’s not that high,” Spiegel reassured, misinterpreting her hesitation. He looked at her, waiting patiently.  _ Whatever,  _ Shino thought as she closed her eyes and held his hand. In an equally as janky motion, the prince pulled her up and set her behind him. She found her left hand grabbing at his shoulder for stability, and it took a moment to get comfortable. The prince didn’t seem to mind, though.

From up high on the mechanical horse’s back, Shino could get a clearer view of the city. There were all sorts of people, all with different faces, strolling around. They talked and they laughed; she hadn’t paid attention to them at first. It wasn’t like her. But from such a raised place, it was impossible not to look. Even if it turned out to be a dream, the world around her was so realistic.  _ Being on horseback is nothing like driving around on grandpa’s Super Cub C90 _ , she thought, slightly amazed. She subconsciously leaned into Spiegel and grabbed him for security.

“Alright, seems like we’re ready to go. The ride is still about ten minutes, hope that’s not too long. Oh, can you tell me more about your world in that time? Like, is this fellow accurate to real horses?” the prince asked happily, turning Sterben and pulling on the reins. The metal horse’s machinations moved, the sound of metal jerking filling the air, and began to face the Governor General’s office. Shino almost lost her footing, but held on.

“Uh, yeah, I was a bit surprised. It’s very anatomically correct. And the synthetic mane looks real, too,” she replied once she collected herself. She saw Spiegel’s grip on the reins tighten out of excitement.

“Wow, so they actually have fur? Tell me more!” he continued. His cheery voice never grew tired the whole ride. The two kids conversed on and on about their two different worlds, and their journey flew by like nothing. Even though Shino talked out of obligation, and not interest, Spiegel’s words were intriguing. He told her his daily life as if it were a fairy tale. And for a moment, there was a smile on Shino’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just gonna be a thing I do now huh; references!  
> “Heaven... oh, horse!”- I’m implying that Spiegel doesn’t use Sterben much in this story. He forgets the name of the creature, confusing it for a word he uses more often (hahaha). The pun here is that, in Japanese, Heaven can be read as “ama” and horse is “uma”. “But Red, GGO is an American game!” The Underworld residents speak Japanese, so do the ship city residents, I made the executive decision.  
> Super Cub C90- Shino has canonically ridden on one of these!  
> Crimson memories- Title of episode 7 of season 2, referencing the incident.  
> “As if she was glowing”- Mr. Paul of Yen Press translated whatever vague ass Japanese phrase was used to describe Kyouji lookin at Shino as this. I still don’t get it, but I personally interpreted it as Solus foreshadowing. It’s a nice line, so I snatched it.

**Author's Note:**

> Since this was originally a one-shot, I’ll probably update veeeery infrequently. Sorry. Fun fact though! Shino’s favorite author really IS John le Carré— I love the web novel character interviews a lot. We get fun trivia like this from it!


End file.
